


Life Changing Field Trip With Zuko

by JustRandomGirlOnTheInternet



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Strangers to Friends, Swearing, You can interprate it as a ship or just friends, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, magic as a plot starter, main character has family issues, main character has slight anxiety, main character loves ATLA
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2019-01-18
Packaged: 2019-07-12 18:27:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16000841
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JustRandomGirlOnTheInternet/pseuds/JustRandomGirlOnTheInternet
Summary: Everything in your life goes wrong and you sometimes would want to just escape it all. Magically your wish comes true and you get to explore the world of Avatar.





	1. Escape The Problems

**Author's Note:**

> Just to clarify some shorts I will probably use:  
> (e/c) - your eye color  
> (h/c) - your hair color  
> (h/l) - your hair lenght  
> (s/c) - skin color  
> (y/n) - your name  
> (b/b) - your body build
> 
> Disclaimer: All the characters (besides the reader/main character/you/whatever you wanna call it, of course) are from Avatar: The Last Airbender. They don't belong to me.

You came back to your small flat after school. It was 4:15 pm and your dad wasn't home yet. Nothing new here, he almost never at home after mom died three years ago. It was a horrible experience, as you were only 12. You still remember how her blue eyes stared into your (e/c) ones... no, you had to stop thinking about that, you reminded yourself.

To distract yourself from your social and family issues, you decided to do one of last things you still enjoy doing - rewatching "Avatar: The Last Airbender" on Netfllix. You picked one of your favourite episodes ever - "Zuko Alone".

Somewhere around end of the episode, your anxiety took over you. You couldn't focus on anything anymore. You just felt like a wreck of a human being. You hugged your knees to yourself and tried to think about anything but not your family or lack of friends. 

Suddenly you felt... something. It was weird but it seemed to come from your spine, somewhere on the height of the stomach. It felt warm and somewhat comforting. After it calmed you down it... made you consider meditating. Strange, because you never felt this before, but you knew the general concept so you decided it won't be bad. You sat crosslegged on he same bed you sat on for last few minutes of watching Avatar. In the background the episode was practically ending when you started to calm. You breath in and out. In... Out... In... Out... Nothing else to focus on, just the air going through your nostrills, filling up your lungs and then going out slowly through the same path. 

It was just on the shot of Zuko leaving the town, when you felt that warmth from your center spread, first down to base of your spine, next up to top of your head. It was so comforting, it helped to focus on breath only.

In...

Out...

In...

Out...

In...

\----------------------------------------

 

Out.

You realised something changed in that moment. Wind. You felt wind on your skin. But... you were sure you closed the window. You opened your eyes slowly. What you saw was your (s/c) hands right before you, just as you left them. The background tho. It wasn't your room anymore. It was some sort of... desert...? What??

You instinctively checked your pocket to find your phone. You didn't have it. Of course. It was predictable. You looked at your clothes overall. They actually were just as you left them. Whether it's good or not, you weren't sure. You looked around. The desert seemed like you saw it... but it's impossible, you thought. You never were on a desert before. Maybe you saw it on a photo...?

Nevermind, that was not the important part now. What was important was WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED. Anxiety started rushing you to look around in panic. Nothing in sight. Only sand. You desperatly looked around once more. Still nothing. You stood up and ran ahead, blindly. You didn't knew what you were doing anymore. Then, after few minutes, you tripped and landed face-first in the sand. You wanted to stand up, but... it was so hot. You were still hungry after school. You weren't a good runner. It just seemed more efficent to stay on the ground and wait for help... or at the very least wait for night, since it'll be colder which means less risk of overheating.

You turned on your back and looked at the sky. The sun would set in few hours. In any other situation the sky would look beautiful, but when you're on edge of hyperventilating again, it doesn't matter that much if something is beautiful. 

'I got what I wanted, I guess' you thought. 'I did get away from my problems... but damn, magic, please, choose something different than a lifeless desert!'. You lay down for few more minutes and your mind was slowly going back to it's normal, less panicked state. You realsed you're gonna hurt your brain if you keep your head exposed to the sun. You looked at yourself for anything you can cover your head with. There was the hoodie you wore, that on your torso made you only hotter and on the head could sorta help. You took it off and wrapped it over your head like a headkerchief. 

You thought back to everything you knew about survival. It wasn't much, but something was there. You knew that your first priority was to be safe from enviorment. Well... you wrapped your head and that was all you could do... besides undressing, but, uh, no. Just in case someone comes by, they shouldn't see your (b/b) body covered in that (s/c) of yours. It would feel uncomfortable.

Next priority is water. "Yeah, good luck with that, (y/n)" you said to yourself "Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get some cactus juice and I'll go nuts enough not to care about starvation or overheating". The thought of cactus juice made you just a bit less lost, even if it was for a split second, as that memory of Sokka saying "drink cactus juice" repeated in your head. Normally you would even laugh, but this situation was too bad to forget about it, even for a second. You sat up on the sand just looking into the distance.

Ten more minutes filled with being on the line between being relatively calm and full-on panic. Then all your thoughts vanished as you heard something. Tumping of feet. But they didn't sound human... was this a tamed animal someone was riding? 'Oh God, please let it be someone who knows how to survive out there!'. But you couldn't even dare to think of what you saw before you saw it.

You saw it in the distance. Was this... an ostrichhorse? No, these aren't real. 'I'm hallucinating' you told yourself in your thoughts.

What still looked like a person on a certainly nonexistant animal, closed in. Then you noticed a little detail on the person on that creature. Left side of his face appeared reddish. After a second you started connecting the dots 'A person with persumably scarred left side of their face on an ostrichhorse in the middle of a desert...? No, wait--. Are you kidding me, it can't be! It can't, it can't, it can't!" You were both excited and afraid about what comes next. So much, that your heart stated to beat faster again. Before the peson could possibly notice you concious, your heart went way too wild and you fainted with the last thought being 'Oh God, hope he notices me when I'm unconcious'.

\-----------------------------------------------------------

You started feeling concious again. You didn't want to, tho. It was so comfortable on the mattress... though it felt less springy than usual... 'wait, is it sand under my hand, I feel?' you realised and slowly opened your eyes.

You saw someone standing over you, looking like he just poured water over your head... yeah, it did feel wet, that added up. Then you started to see the details of the person and OH MY GOD THIS COULDN'T BE TRUE. 

You saw mostly pale ski and black hair, companied by amber eyes and big, reddish-pink burn scar on the left half of the face. "Oh. My God." you said half-whispering.

Zuko stared and waited for you to say something first. And so you did.

"PRINCE ZUKO AAAAAAA" you went completly fangirling for a second. Then you noticed his startled face and calmed yourself "I'm sorry for that." you said.

But Zuko still looked confused and nervous "Why did you call me 'Zuko'?" he said slowly and cautiously. Right. In the moment you forgot he doesn't know that I know and that he'll probably tell you his name is Lee. Yep, here the normal-earth-kingdom-citizen cover blew up. You knew you can't say you just guessed so you looked at him like you were trying to say 'Don't pretend you don't know'. He seemed to catch the cue.

"Alright... But don't you tell people I am who I am" said the older boy.

"You bet I won't" you simply said and tried to stand up. Weakly, you managed to sit up but nothing more. You looked up at him again. He looked like he didn't know what to think. Well, that was to be expected... It seemed you had to prove yourself trust-worthy. Of course. You always had everything uphill. 

After a moment of awkward silence, Zuko asked very much as neutrally as humanly possible, without sounding like a psychopath "And what's your name?"

"(y/n)..." you responded kind of shyily. 

"And why are you alone in the desert?" he continued sort of suspiciously.

After a moment of thinking through your optiotions, you decided to say "I'll tell you if you earn my trust... Is that okay?", because you didn't want to tell him everything so suddenly, especially that you were not sure if this is real or not and if this is real, then the prince could easily kill you, whether if it was via swords or via firebending.

The boy just nodded in response and offered a hand to help you stand up, kind of awkwardly. Damn, he really was an awkward turtleduck sometimes, as everyone in the fandom describes him.

Then he came to a realisation "Wait. You want to travel with me...? I-I mean, to the nearest city?" Your heart skipped a beat. You smiled and looked at him excitedly for a few seconds, then calmed yourself with few breaths and said "Yes, I would be HONORED to". 

The prince looked, again, suprised, but this time also a bit cringing. "You chose this wording on purpose, didn't you?" he said after a second. You just couldn't resist making that joke, could you? Well, you didn't die so it was worth it. "I have no idea how you know stuff about me, but... uh... let's just get onto the ostrichorse." he said awkwardly. 

He was both scary and cute at the same time. It was awesome. You hoped he won't just leave in the next town. 'Not that I have a crush on him, or something!' you thought as you sat on the animal, right behind Zuko 'It's just... a familiar face around. Having crushes on fictional characters would be silly.' you continued your thought as you two started riding in the direction of the nearest town and while sun was about to set. You could actually apprciate the view now, as something from within the exciled prince was making you feel comfortable. Some sort of warmth emanating from him, similiar to the one you felt inside yourself, you noticed. Maybe it was just how someone alive felt in this world. Well, you were sure you'll learn more about everything as you travel on.


	2. Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh God, I'm sorry, it's been so long since I did the first chapter... But, y'know, final year of school. It means you gotta try your very best and that means you gotta learn pointless dates, law articles, names of regions, names of substances etc until midnight and don't really have time to write. But. I finally managed to post! I'm sorry if it seems rushed, my writing was something like: Open computer. Add a few sentances. Leave the computer cuz it's 1am.  
> Still, I hope you enjoy it regardless! :)

Hours passed and the sun has set.

  


You travel on the ostrichhorse, the only light being stars and Zuko's flame, he held in his hand.

  


You never expected that deserts can be so cold at night. You decided to put back on your hoodie. The whole time you just watched the hills made out of sand, that you two passed by, knowing that in a week it may not look anything like it is now, due to the wind.

  


But now, the awkward silence between you and Zuko started bothering you. "I have to say something... anything." you thought. Afterall, it may be the only chance to talk to Zuko you will ever get, something many fans would die for... But what should you say? After thinking it over for good 15 minutes, with breaks for internally complaining about the cold breeze attacking you from every direction, you decided you know what to say.

  


"So... why are you in the middle of a desert?" you said. Well, you knew that, but you wanted to hear it from him.

  


"Why do you need to know?" he replied kind of grumpily. Somehow, you felt the warmth from within him rise, feeling like flames. It wasn't simply comforting now, it felt kind of dangerous, though you couldn't describe how. The flame he held started dancing more wildly as well.

  


"Human curiosity, y'know?". You tried to sound casually, but you clearly failed at it. He seemed to sense that.

  


"Okay, okay, don't get scared of me... I'm searching for the Avatar. I wanna capture him, so I can get my honor back and... and return home". The last line. You could tell it was devastating. And the warmth reflected that, now getting practically cold... were these emotions you felt...? Doesn't matter now. You felt like you  _had to_  somehow comfort him, like you couldn't leave him hanging. You knew that it could be interfering with the story, but...

  


"Don't worry, you'll get home eventually. Maybe not on terms you suspected, but nonetheless you will"

  


He looked at you, confused by your out-of-nowhere knowledge, so you added

  


"Just... trust me. You will."

  


He slightly, almost unnoticebly smiled after a second or two. It felt  _so uplifting_  that you actually helped him at least for a tiny bit in that psychological mess of his. The silence wasn't awkward anymore, it was comforting. 

  


\-------------------------------------

  


The sun was rising. The warmth on your skin was comforting. Yet, it couldn't fully distract you from the matter at hand. Namely, it has been at least 12 hours. Does time pass at the same rate in the real World? Is it slowed down? Does it not move at all? You had no idea. If... if it does move forward, are people searching for you already? Do they think you've been kiddnapped?? You clinged to the sides of the ostrichhorse harder, as you felt another wave of panic rush through you.

  


Zuko must've noticed, as he turned around to you and asked "Hey, are you alright?".

  


You look at him, breathing heavily, trying to get control of your mind. After 10 seconds of nervous silence you say "I'm fine...".

  


You can feel the heat of the desert constantly and furiously attacking your skin. Although your mind calmed down a little, you still felt like you were about to faint... But why? You are clearly calmer so you shouldn't be like this... it's not like you dehydrated or anything-- ... _oh_. Right. Middle of the desert.

  


"Hey, uh... do you have any water?" you ask a little anxiously. You can only assume that this is right afer Zuko Alone episode, so he should've refilled his water supply...

  


"Hardly any..." he responds and a moment after adds "But I think we'll drink at noon, because we'll need it the most then.". Well, crap. You'll be thirsty for an hour more. That's when a realisation hit you - you are a part of this World now, like every other character here. You are affectd by it's rules. You feel thirst, hnger, burns, cold, suffocation and... you most probably can die...

  


Die...

  


_Die..._

  


That thought is frightening.

  


Something cut you off from your thoughts tho. Literally cut, as hard little pieces of sand attack your face, arms and whole body, really. You were pretty sure this will leave bruises in some places. And it hurt. It felt like bullets, just with lower penetrability. You cover your eyes with your hands to not go blind. You hear and feel the sand everywhere. Then you feel center of mass on the ostrichhorse shift and you almost fall backwards, but you manage not to by shifting you own position accordingly. You hear flames bursting and feel the intensifying heat. You hear steps and sand shifting. Everything is so full of various sensations, even if your sight is out.

  


You uncover your eyes, only to see a man in a sandbender outfit stepping to the side and revealing a flame travelling your way. Shit, shit, shit, _shit, shit,shit..._

  


In the impulse of survival instincts, you extend your arms forward so it at least burns your arms and not face... _This will hurt. This will hurt._

  


One second passes.

  


Another.

  


And another.

  


No pain came, suprisingly.

  


You open your eyes that you didn't even realise you closed and... the flame is stopped in front of your palms. You look over at Zuko, and he stares in suprise. You look at the sandbenders and they're staring in suprise too. 

  


They're expecting something from you...  _Oh God, what to do, what to do?_

  


Ultimately, you sloppily throw the flame in your palms in their direction.  _This_ was probably the most poorly executed firebending move you've ever seen, but the fact that it worked was the only thing that mattered. They quickly dodged it though.

  


You looked over at Zuko and he's looking at you. You can see in his eyes that he needs your help... but how? You don't even know how to... Like, you can't even make your own flames yet!

  


But. They seem scared. Well, it's logical, as there is only two of them. 2v2 is a big change from 2v1. They don't know you basically are useless... maybe, just maybe, you could use that...?

  


You step off fo the ostrichhorse and walk forward, lokig braver than you ever truly are. You need to fight the urge to stutter while saying "Have you guys ever known that two firebenders can create a fire tornado?"

  


The two men look at eachother, horrified.  _Oh God, it actually kind of works._ You continue talking "You don't wanna be trapped in one, do you?" They take a step back. The sound of their feet moving the sand was so horrifying just seconds ago and now it's so  _satisfying._ Zuko looks at you like he wanted to say he can't do that. But you can't either. That's why they  _have_  to take the bait. "If you want to live... leave now. Immadiently. Or" You take firebending stance. Doesn't matter that you don't know how it works, you just remembered it. You glare at them. It takes just a few seconds for them to run off. 

You stare with Zuko at eachother for a few seconds and then he practically shouts "You're a firebender??" You responded "Yeah, I got to know just now as well!"

 

Another stare. "But you're my age, how didn't you know you can bend?". Well, this gets messy fast. But you can't tell him that you're in this world for a few hours, obviously. In a matter of panic you say "Doesn't matter. Let's just... keep going." 

 

You sit back onto ostrichorse. You breathe in and out a few times with the annoyingly dry air of the desert. Then you hear him speak up again "That tornado thing... you can actually do that?" Wait, he got the bait too? That's actually kind of funny, you thought that he would guess how shitty of a bender you are. "Nah" you respond lazily. 

 

"What? Then why did you tell them you can?" No, he can't be that oblivious. Or hunger and heat is getting to him. Actually, that might be true. 

 

"I was bluffing so they run away in terror like they did" he looked at you for a few seconds and responded "That's... actually genius"

 

"Wouldn't call it genius, but... thanks" Wow, how long have it been since someone compliemented you... Probably long. That's a quite nice feeling. 

 

You two keep riding through the dessert as the sun was groing higher, getting brighter and most importantly hotter. This will be a long, hot day, you thought. But it's alright. You're with Zuko and he knows what he's doing.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I know some people may see the idea as cringy. It's just a little thing I thought of during class. It's my first Reader's Point Of View fic, so I'm sorry if I'm giving too much description to the main character's thoughts. Let me know if that's the case, I'll try to learn. 
> 
> Anyway, hope you at least somewhat enjoyed this thing! Wish you a good day


End file.
